


Resurrection

by TheGamingOstrich



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-02-17 13:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGamingOstrich/pseuds/TheGamingOstrich
Summary: After a fight with a powerful telekinetic, Barry Allen is killed and wakes up in the speed force. To the above world, two years have passed since his death, when he wakes up in a pine box. What will Barry do now that he is alive again? Will he drive his team away because of his acceptance of killing, or will he overcome it and finally gain his team back once and for all? Canon-3x23





	1. Rebirth

Darkness.

It was the first thing Barry saw as he woke up. When he tried to move, he was stopped by very close wooden walls and ceiling.

"Help!" Barry attempted to cry, but all that came out was a dry and raspy whisper. His throat was dry as if it had no moisture in it for ages. As his senses started to awaken, he realized that he was in a pine box six feet under. He then realized that he most likely had only a few minutes of air before he was going to suffocate.

Upon this realization, Barry began to make an effort to slow his breathing, which is fairly difficult realizing that you're stuck in the ground. Once that was done, Barry started punching the top of the box, causing dirt to fall through the rotting wood. Summoning all of his strength, Barry took a deep breath and punched with all of his might.

Dirt and wood collapsed on top of Barry. Using his remaining might, he crawled through the dirt to the surface. With his arms working in overdrive, his hands shifting rapidly to pull himself up, and his legs pushing against the dirt below, Barry was finally able to make it to the surface.

Barry was nearly blinded by the light of day. He pulled on the grass to get the rest of his body out of the newly dug hole in the ground. Gasping for air, Barry lay down on the grass, tired from all the exertion with little energy. After a few minutes, Barry stood up and observed his surroundings.

The cemetery was one he recognized. It was the same one that his mother and father were buried in. Barry then caught the eye of the groundskeeper, who was frozen in fear. Barry sheepishly waved at the groundskeeper with a weak smile, causing the man to turn and run. After that interaction, Barry knew that this wasn't some dream. This was real.

Barry turned around to look at his gravestone. It read:

Barry Allen, Loving Husband, and Son

1989-2020

Reading the gravestone caused him to realize that he had no idea what the hell was going on. Barry then made an effort to remember the events leading up to his death.

* * *

 

_"You can't go! What if we have another Zoom situation where he breaks you nearly to beyond repair, or worse?!" Caitlin screamed at Barry, who was about to face off against a telekinetic metahuman, far more powerful than Magenta and DeVoe combined._

_"Well, what's the other option? Let him be as he destroys the entire city? Even if I do die, it'll be defending the city. Defending you. Defending Iris. Defending everyone." Barry retorted, frustration rising inside of him, but also an understanding of their worry._

_"Barry you can't do this. We need to find another way. This city can't lose you. I can't lose you..." Iris cried as she attempted to hold Barry back from fighting. Iris grabbed onto him, in a subconscious effort to make him stay. Barry then addressed the team._

_"Even if I die, Central City will have Wally to protect it. Oliver can come help if extra help is needed. This city will be protected, even if I die."_

_"Barry, please-"_

_"No, Joe, I have to try." Barry let go of Iris and sped into his suit. "If I do die, don't reveal my identity. I don't want the city to see me as a person. Then they'll see a family and friends behind this mask. I need them to see a hero that died for them."_

_Barry gave a quick kiss to Iris, making sure to leave S.T.A.R. Labs before the team could convince him to stay._

_Barry arrived at the telekinetic's location, ready to fight. The man turned around, smiling._

_"Hello, Flash! Lovely evening, isn't it?" The man turned around to face Barry. The man was wearing a two-piece suit under a trench coat. Barry didn't respond, using this time to observe his surroundings and size up the man._

_"Not very talkative are you? Oh well, you won't be able to talk for much longer anyway." With that the man's arm shot out, attempting to grab Barry with his powers. Barry saw the action and moved behind the telekinetic, landing a few blows on him before being thrown backward from an invisible force. The man turned around and lifted Barry into the air._

_"Barry!" He heard Iris call through his comms. He was about to respond when forces started crushing him on all sides._

_"AGGHH!" Barry screamed as the forces on him grew stronger and stronger. The man had both of his arms sticking out, his hands closing slowly._

_"You see, Flash, you are powerless to stop me. This proves that this city is weak. I will conquer it, and the rest of the multiverse. This conquest starts with you."_

_Barry knew he was about to die. Team flash was going insane trying to figure out some way to save Barry._

_"Iris..." Barry called out to his wife._

_"I'm here, Barry!" Iris responded, on the verge of collapsing._

_"Iris, no matter what happens know that I-" Barry was cut off by the most pain he had ever felt in his life. He could feel his internal organs being shredded, his bones being turned to dust. Barry cried out in horrific screams._

_"Barry! No, no, no, BARRY!" Iris called out, sobs now wrecking her body. Caitlin stared mortified at his vitals and the footage of what happened, sobs causing her to fall out of her chair and bring her legs towards the torso. Cisco was frozen in fear. Joe ran out of the cortex looking to drive to Barry's location, but Wally had to hold him back with all his might, while simultaneously comforting Jesse. Harry stood frozen, attempting to hide his emotions, but letting a small amount of sadness through._

_Barry heard their screams for a few seconds until blackness took him. The last things he heard were Caitlin and Iris's sobs pouring through his comms._

 

 

* * *

After reminiscing on the events leading up to his death, Barry held his hand in front of his face and vibrated it, making sure he still had his speed. When it vibrated at super speeds, he relaxed slightly, knowing he still had the speed force.

With that, Barry started walking towards the exit of the graveyard. Upon leaving, he decided that getting food needed to be next. Barry still had enough energy to grab some money from his old house and eat with that, so he would be able to use his speed without danger.

Barry flashed over to his old loft, hoping Iris still lived there. Phasing through the door he came to find an empty room with pictures of him and Iris. Everything was the same as when he died. Good, she still lives here, he thought, as he ran over to his old safe and grabbed money from it. He then ran over to the kitchen and grabbed some chips to eat. After eating a bagful, Barry ran back out of the apartment and to the alley a block away from a big belly burger.

Barry decided he didn't want to be recognized yet so he checked to be sure that there was no one there to recognize him. Seeing no familiar faces, he walked into the restaurant. Barry walked up to the counter and ordered three double cheeseburgers. After getting a strange glance from the cashier, he got an even stranger one from the question that followed.

"Here's the cash. Hey, do you happen to know the date?" Barry asked sheepishly, hoping she would say the year the first time so he wouldn't have to ask for that specifically.

"Yeah. It's October 10." She replied.

"And the year?" Barry asked, shrinking as she raised one eyebrow at him.

"2022." She said inquisitively, but shrugging it off as him being tired.

"Thanks," Barry responded, finding a table facing the door to ensure that no one familiar walks in. "Only two years?!" Barry thought as he heard his name being called to pick up his order.

* * *

 

_"Hello, Barry." A voice boomed through his head. That darkness that fell over Barry's eyes when he died retreated to reveal himself in his childhood home._

_"Wh-where am I?" Barry asked, not sure if this was real or not._

_"The speed force." This time the voice came from behind him, causing Barry to turn around. When he did, he saw his mother standing where she died._

_"Why am I here? Did I die?"_

_"Yes Barry, you died fighting a telekinetic. The speed force is where speedsters go when they die."_

_"I-I have to go back! My family, the city needs me!" Barry shouted, but only because he was scared._

_"Not yet. We have a proposition for you."_

_"Okay, what is it?"_

_"Most speedsters use their powers for their own good. You, however, did not. You used your powers to do good, to protect and to save. Although there were a few bumps, like flashpoint, you still benefited the multiverse as a whole. Because of this, we are offering you a second chance. Work with us a bounty hunter for 40 years, and we will resurrect you not too long after your death."_

_"Really?!" Barry exclaimed, then gaining skepticism about the job. "But what exactly would I be doing?"_

_"You would be like a time wraith. Collecting speedsters that mess with time or threaten the multiverse. The difference is that you will be sentient. Time wraiths and black flash are merely zombies performing tasks. You will be alive and smart. You can make decisions that those things can't."_

_"And if I refuse?"_

_"Then you will be here forever."_

_Barry thought about it for a moment, eventually deciding that he had to return to his time._

_"Okay. I'll do it."_

_"Good. There are a few things you should know. The first is that you have to forget all your connections. Your love for Iris, your friends, your family, everything. If a mission brings you to their time, you cannot have feelings get in the way. Second, you are going to be put through extensive training. Your usage of your powers is limited. With the right training, you can run faster than the speed of light, punch with the power of a white dwarf star, throw lightning in less than half a second, heal yourself instantly, heal others instantly, punch open a breach to other worlds, and more. We will train you to master speed."_

_Barry was dumbfounded by what he just heard. The power that was waiting to be unlocked was baffling._

_"Let's get started."_

* * *

 

Barry walked out of the big belly burger and sped off to the top of S.T.A.R. Labs to think of his next move. He wasn't ready to return to his old life, especially to Iris. The things that he has seen, the loss he has experienced, the horrible things that he has done, they all left a mark on him. Almost constantly he hears screams, pain, cries for help. Barry wasn't ready to show this mark to others yet, except for one. Someone that knows the pain of losing everything, and they are far enough away from team flash so wouldn't be noticed.

* * *

 

_Barry's death sent waves across the multiverse. After he died, the telekinetic retreated, allowing Wally and Jesse to speed to the scene carrying Caitlin and Iris. When they arrived, Iris collapsed by Barry's side, and Caitlin pulling herself together just enough to check on Barry. Upon inspection, his body seemed to simply sag. She lifted up his arm and everything but the part she was holding sagged down as if it were a bag of water. Soon Caitlin had to give into the sobs that were trying to crawl their way free. Wally, being the most composed of the team, comforted Iris while Jesse did the same for Caitlin. The rest of the team finally arrived in their cars, barely being able to look at what was in front of them._

_Upon arrival, Cisco took Jesse's place and attempted to comfort Caitlin. Harry continued Caitlin's examination of the body. Joe took his place beside Iris, both consoling each other. Police sirens were heard in the distance, causing most of the team to jump into action. Caitlin, Cisco, Wally, and Harry moved to pry Barry's body away from Joe and Iris. Both protested, but when they noticed the sirens, they both stepped away. Picking up and running the body to S.T.A.R. proved to be incredibly difficult. Barry's body sagged so much it was dragging Wally down. He eventually arrived at S.T.A.R. and set him in the med bay to be examined when the others arrived._

* * *

 

"Um, guys," Cisco called from inside the cortex, "There's someone on the roof of S.T.A.R." Cisco then pulled up the security feed of the roof. Caitlin, Jesse, and Wally turned to look.

The feed showed a slim man in a suit, but the camera only showed his back. The man seemed to just be standing there, unmoving.

"I'll go check it out. If something happens be prepared to come help me." Cisco said, gesturing to Wally and Jesse. Cisco then made his way up to the roof of S.T.A.R. When he opened the door, he had his vibe gloves on and goggles in his hand if combat was needed.

"Hey! Suit! What are you doing on top of S.T.A.R. Labs?" Cisco called, obviously annoyed. Barry turned his head towards Cisco ever so slightly, not enough to give away his identity, but enough to acknowledge Cisco. Barry could run away, but that would give Cisco a chance to follow him via breach. Barry decided to go somewhere that would be harder to locate him in. The multiverse.

Barry knew where he would go. Earth 38. Supergirl's earth. He did what he was taught to do when jumping earths. He had been there a few times now, so he knew what frequency it was. Barry started vibrating his hand against his chest, concealing it from Cisco's view. When he knew he reached the correct frequency, Barry punched the air beside him fast enough to open a breach to the correct earth. A breach to Earth 38 appeared, causing Cisco to jump back ever so slightly. Cisco moved to put on his goggles, but they were knocked out of his hand as he heard a demonic voice behind him.

"Don't follow me." Cisco couldn't even turn around before a blur ran past him and in an instant was gone, along with the breach.


	2. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

As soon as Barry stepped out of the breach, he started observing his surroundings. He recognized the location as Kara Danvers apartment. Barry looked around the area, finding that no one was there at the time. Needing to find out where Kara was, Barry turned on the TV and found the news.

"Breaking news," The newscaster said, "Supergirl has just been kidnapped in an all-out battle with the alien known as Darkseid. After being hit with Darkseid's Omega Beams, Supergirl was knocked out and kidnapped by a few of his parademons."

Upon hearing this, Barry knew he had to gear up for war and the suit that he was buried in wouldn't cut it. His gear from his time in the speed force was still there. Barry decided that he would collect it and save Kara. Barry ran out of the building and stopped at an airstrip. Barry ran down the runway and ran into the speed force. He stopped inside his childhood home, seeing his mother in front of him.

"Welcome back, Barry. What are you here for?" Nora said, already knowing what Barry needed.

"I'm here for my gear," Barry explained, "Supergirl is in danger by Darkseid. I need to get her out of there."

"Of course, Barry. Here it is." Nora gestured to an armor stand beside her. On it was Barry's old armor. The suit was made of a leather like material, with straps and buckles lining it. Near the heart, slightly to the left was a sheath holding a knife. The user could easily reach up to his heart and grab the handle without any fumbling. The mask covered the entire face and had a very mechanical look to it. It was a dark metal, impossible to be destroyed. Over the Mask was a hood, leather like the suit, but held to the mask so it wouldn't fall back when the user is running. Barry sped into the suit, hood down, and looked at the back of the mask. After being applied to the user's face, five leather straps would shoot out the back, all connecting at the center of the back of the head, securing the mask. To take the mask off, the user simply had to apply pressure to the point where the bands connect. The bands will retract, allowing the user to pull off the mask. Barry placed the mask on his face, the bands securing in the back.

"Can you put me back right where and when I left?" Barry asked.

"Of course," Nora said gesturing behind Barry, where a portal opened up. "Now, go save Kara."

Barry smiled and stepped into the portal behind him. Just as he asked, not a second had passed when he stepped out.

Barry ran to the scene where Supergirl was taken, getting strange looks from everyone around. Infront of Barry was a massive building of futuristic looking tech. Supergirl could be anywhere, Barry thought. Then, he remembered part of his training. He placed his hands on the structure and began to vibrate. soon the entire building was vibrating. Barry could feel the molecules that made up the air, his body, the building, and the things inside it. With this Barry was able to create a picture of the entire building in his mind. With Barry's mind being able to think at the speed of light, he was able to remember the entire inner workings of the building. Soon, he found Kara. She was near the top, being tortured by Darkseid with some strange metal with radioactive properties. Barry ran up the side of the building at top speed, phasing into the room where Kara was being held.

Barry saw Kara strapped down to a metal table, being held there by some kind green metal. Beside her was Darkseid, who was cutting her with same metal that was holding her down. Multiple parademons were surrounding her, a few by the door, and a few charging at Barry after they noticed he was there. Barry responded by pulling out his knife, flashing up to one and stabbing it in its head and in the throat of the other. Darkseid heard the scuffle and charged up his omega beams. Kara looked up at him with a mixture of fear and relief on her face. The other parademons at the door and near Kara started charging at Barry. He waited for them all to get close enough for his lightning throw, while simultaneously dodging Darkseid's Omega Beams. When they were grouped together, Barry vibrated his hand fast enough to generate lightning and threw it at the group of five or six parademons. They were all immediately thrown backward, either dead or knocked out, Barry not taking the time to check. Just as Darkseid was shooting another beam, Barry charged at him and stuck a hand through his chest. Barry knew that it wouldn't kill him, but it would incapacitate him for long enough to get Kara out of there. Once Darkseid was on the floor, Barry turned to Kara.

"Kara. I'm here to get you out." Barry said, changing his voice but not to the point of intimidation, just enough to mask his voice.

"Who-Who are you? How did you-"

"I'll explain at your apartment. right now we need to move before Mr. Damien Darkseid decides to wake up." Barry cut open the metal holding Kara down, grabbed her, and ran. Barry phased through the wall and continued down the side of the building. Barry slowed down long enough for the onlookers to see that he was carrying Supergirl. He con continued to run until he reached her apartment.

* * *

 

_Barry's funeral had everyone that he knew. The entire police department, Team Legends, Team Arrow, Team Flash, and Kara and Kal-El. The funeral was mostly silent, except for Iris giving the eulogy. As promised, no one gave away The Flash's identity. It was practically his dying wish. The Burial was just as quiet save for the quiet crying of Joe, Iris, Caitlin, and Kara._

* * *

 

As soon as Barry arrived at Kara's apartment, he set her down and waited for her to speak.

"Yo-You're a speedster?" Kara asked, very confused.

"Yes. One you may very well remember." This time Barry didn't mask his voice. Kara, upon hearing his true voice, shifted her expression from confusion to an awesome realization.

"B-Barry?"

Barry didn't reply but merely bowed his head, dropped the hood and pressed into the bands of leather, and pulled off the mask, Hooking it on his belt in the back.

"Miss me?"

Kara stood frozen in place for what felt like an eternity, with a shocked expression frozen as well. "Barry? The flash Barry? No, no, that can't be. He's dead! Maybe he's a bizarro or a shape-shifter metahuman or alien?" Kara thought, deciding that this can't actually be him. Kara reached out a hand as if she was about to cup his face. Barry stood still until Kara swung at Barry with all her might. Barry, shocked, moved to duck away from the punch. Kara proceeded to kick Barry, him dodging each kick.

"No, no, no, no! Kara, it's me, Barry! You- Your name is Kara Zor-El, born of Krypton until it was destroyed when you were a kid. You crashed here on earth and moved in with the Danvers. You're one of my best friends." Barry said in an attempt to persuade Kara that he was actually himself. Barry grabbed a chair and placed it between them as he backed away. Kara seemed unfazed, as she smashed the chair and moved in.

"I'm not a shapeshifter!" Barry cried, trying to get Kara to believe.

"Then you're Bizarro!" Kara shouted, charging up her heat vision. Barry continued to back away until he hit a wall.

"If I were Bizarro, would I have saved you? If I were a shapeshifter, would I be able to use my powers?" Barry shouted, hoping that she would believe before having to take her down. Luckily, Kara seemed to start to believe him. Kara's eye's stopped glowing and she slowed her pursuit.

"B-Barry?" Kara whispered, realizing that the man in front of her was her longtime and best friend.

"Yes, yes it's me!" Barry sighed, relieved that he didn't have to do anything that he would later regret. Kara launched herself at Barry, nearly crushing him, again. Barry wrapped his arms around her and vibrated ever so slightly so that he wouldn't be crushed. After a long time of just standing there, both seeing each other for the first time in two years for Kara and 40 for Barry, they separated.

"But-but HOW?! How are you alive? Your body was just a-a bag of blood!" Kara shouted, still in awe of what she was seeing in front of her.

"Right after I died, I woke up in the speed force. That's what gives me my speed. They said that because of the good I did with my powers, that I was able to be resurrected as long as I worked for them for 40 years." Barry explained, sitting down on the couch, motioning for her to sit next to him.

"How have you not aged? You look just like you did two years ago."

"The speed force exists outside of time. I didn't age there because to my body, time wasn't passing."

"Wow. Who else knows?"

"No one. I told you first because I need advice, and you're the only one who knows what I've gone through feels like."

"What do you mean?"

"In the speed force," Barry explained, "I was a bounty hunter. I went after speedsters who threatened the timeline or the multiverse. Some of them only wanted to fix something in their past, such as me with flashpoint. Most, However, used it for evil reasons. Destroy their enemy as a kid, create a dictatorship, and other horrible things. I was to protect the timeline of as many earths as possible. I was successful most of the time, but there was one time I failed. On an earth almost identical to mine, a man decided that he wanted to go back in time and create the atom bomb for Germany before America could. This moment was early in my training, so I wasn't as powerful then as I am now. I nearly had the guy when he managed to land a shot into my chest while I was distracted saving a hostage. At that time I couldn't heal fast enough to take him down so I had to watch as a salvo of nuclear missiles launched into the sky. I eventually healed and flashed over to America trying to warn everyone of the disasters soon to come. I was too late and I arrived to do a wasteland of screams of pain and cries for help. Every country other than Germany was wiped out by nuclear blasts and fallout. Even then Germany soon followed because of the tarnished atmosphere. Even now when I close my eyes I hear more screams than anyone could ever imagine. The things I saw, the corpses, the destruction, the loss, it was more than you could ever believe. I grabbed onto that pain and used it as an incentive to train harder, train better. I'm scared to show myself to the rest of my friends because of what they will see in me. The Barry that they lost is by no means the Barry that has returned."

Kara was dumbfounded by what she heard. The horrors that he had seen were far more than what she saw. Granted, she knew the people that she lost, but she couldn't see the deaths. And Barry didn't know the people that died but he had to see their bodies, the viscera, the blood. Kara then remembered the mission to save her from Darkseid. One of the first things that Barry did was kill the two parademons that were charging at him. He was right. The Barry in front of her was not at all the Barry that died two years ago.

"So you came to me to ask how you should handle facing your friends and family with the pain you carry around?" Kara asked, trying to think of a way to help him.

"Y-yes," Barry responded, afraid to look Kara in the eyes. Before now the weight of the wasteland attack didn't bother him. he needed it to make sure no more innocents were killed. But now he had to look his friends in the eyes and let them see what he has to carry.

"Well, the first thing that you will have to do is talk to them about your killing policy. I don't see you being able to stop immediately considering that you killed those parademons without a second thought. As for them seeing the burden you carry, it comes with being a superhero. Granted, only a few see have seen loss on that scale, but loss none-the-less. They will see what you're going through. They may not be able to understand the amount itself, but they won't shun you for it."

"You know, I counted the number of deaths one day. I pushed it down, but talking about it has resurfaced the number. The earth was far more populated than either of our earths. A total population of 13.7 billion people, 6.3 of that were kids. To this day I regret trying to save that one hostage. Because of that, everyone, including that hostage, was killed off. I now use my increased thought speed to run through the possible outcomes and choose the one with the least amount of deaths. Usually, the choice is morally correct, but sometimes it is most definitely questionable."

"Well, that's for you and your team to decide whether or not to continue doing that. Just remember that sometimes you can't save everyone. Now, you are going to go reintroduce yourself to your team."

"Alright," Barry said, standing up and pulling Kara up with him, "I'm willing to bet that your friends, sister, and the DEO are going absolutely insane right now. How 'bout I give you a ride over there, for old-time sakes?"

"Sure!" Kara said, smiling wildly that her "super-friend" was back from the dead. Barry put on his mask, picked her up and ran to the DEO HQ and dropped her right in the center of the area. Alex rushed and Winn rushed over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, as Barry watched from the side. When they separated, Alex turned to Barry.

"And who are you?" Alex asked, on edge from the masked stranger in the HQ of a top secret government facility.

"An old friend," Barry said as he pulled off his mask and smiled. Alex froze up, jaw dropped to the floor. He stayed just long enough for them to see his face, then punched the air beside him and left Earth-38.

"Bu-but he's-"

"Not anymore he isn't. I'll fill you in on it later."

* * *

 

Cisco ran back to the cortex dumbfounded by what he just saw. They hadn't encountered any speedsters other than Wally, Jesse, or Barry ever since Savitar.

"You guys saw that right?" Cisco shouted, out of breath from what he just saw.

"Yeah. Another speedster? And why was he on top of S.T.A.R. Labs, or why was he wearing a suit?" Caitlin asked, biting her lip.

"Did you guys happen to see his face?" Cisco asked.

"Nope. We did catch the outline of it when he motioned towards you, but nothing more. The thing is though, the little that we did see looked a lot like Barry." Jesse responded.

"There's no way it's him! Even if he did somehow wake up in a pine box, he would die again instantaneously because he has nothing inside of his body." Caitlin said, hating talking about Barry. The whole experience was bringing back memories.

"So," Cisco said, "it's got to be a new speedster-"

"Guys," Joe stormed in, "Barry's grave is dug up!" The entire team jumped at Joe's sudden arrival but shock immediately turned to dropped jaws. "I was walking up to his grave when I saw upturned dirt. I talked to the groundskeeper and he said that he thought he saw a man climbing out of the ground, but didn't report it because he thought no one would believe him." Everyone in the room beside Joe looked at each other.

"We just saw a man that looked ever so slightly like Barry. He was on the roof and his back was facing the camera. We only saw the outline of the side of his face and his back, but he also was a speedster." Cisco spoke slowly, as if not believing the words he was saying, let alone Joe's.

"Why don't we go see this grave for ourselves?" Wally suggested, thinking that this can't be Barry, someone simply dug up his grave. It does happen.

"Sure. I'll drive." Joe said, motioning for them to follow.

After a very anxious car ride, the five finally arrived at the graveyard. They all ran to the grave, Joe the only one not expecting to see a normal grave. Soon they arrived at the site. Infront of them was a hole, just big enough to fit a person with the body of a speedster. Around the hole were fresh dirt and small bits of wood. Caitlin was the first to speak.

"Is he still in there?" Caitlin asked, looking at Wally and Jesse. Immediately the two speedsters sprang into action, digging further into the grave. Eventually, they reached the coffin and removed the broken lid. The two climbed back up and stared at an unexplainable sight along with the rest of the group. The coffin was full of dirt, and nothing but. There was no body inside the coffin.

"Wh-where is Barry's body?" Caitlin asked, not knowing what to do.

"There's no way that someone was able to steal his body from a hole the size of what we saw when we first got-" Joe was cut off by a breach opening behind them. The team turned to look at the swirling vortex and froze, fearing what was on the other side. After a moment, a figure in a leather suit and hood with a metallic mask stepped through. Jesse and Wally prepared to run, Catlin rose her arms at the figure, Cisco rose only one, and Joe reached for his gun. The figure didn't twitch at the actions, merely staring at the group.

"Who are you? Did you do this?!" Cisco shouted, fearing the answer.

"I guess you could say that." The masked man said, not bothering to change his voice. The group's eyes widened as they started to recognize the voice. The man bowed his head, threw back the hood, removed the mask, and looked up at a large mixture of expressions. Cisco dropped his hand, widened his eyes, and drew in a deep breath. Caitlin started tearing up and moved her hand to her mouth, covering it. Joe put his gun back, slowly moving towards Barry. Jesse relaxed her muscles but remained unmoving. Wally shortly had a look of shock, but it quickly turned to an ear-to-ear grin.

"Oh, and by the way Cisco, don't call me 'Suit'."

* * *

 

_"It's been five months since Barry's death and we still can't find a safe way to defeat this telekinetic," Wally said to the team at the S.T.A.R. Labs cortex, frustrated that the team hasn't found a way to take down Barry's killer._

_"All we know is that we have to take him down by surprise. Any other way and he'll shred us alive." Caitlin added._

_"We need to think about whether or not killing would be an option." Harry pointed out, earning "are you serious" glances from the entire team._

_"Look. I don't like it any more than any of you do, but do you really think that will be able to contain him, let alone knock him out without alerting him? Even if Wally were to knock him out, were not even sure that the pipeline or Iron Heights could hold a metahuman of his power. Wally could, however, run in and send a hand into his chest from behind before the guy has a chance to respond." Harry explained, trying to show that their morals might not be able to work with taking him down._

_"I don't know. Do we really want to resort to killing just because it's too hard to not?" Wally asked, not sure how to feel about killing someone._

_"I don't know. Do we really want another case of being helpless as he shreds another loved one to pieces? More people could die if we don't kill him when we have the chance." Harry retorted, hoping that someone would listen._

_"Let's think about this. We haven't seen him for a few months now so maybe we still have some time." Cisco said, hoping to end the conversation while he could. Talking about the cause of Barry's death wasn't easy for anyone._


	3. A Stranger

Joe was the first to reach Barry. He threw his arms around Barry with a strength to rival Supergirl. Barry quickly returned the hug, silently giving a small smile. After a minute he reluctantly let go to allow for others to welcome him back to the Land of the Living. No one was able to speak, each to shocked, surprised, or on the verge of tears to make any noises. Cisco was the next to find his strength to move. He approached Barry slowly as if it were a dream. When he finally reached Barry, he poked his shoulder to see if he was real and not some vibe. Barry responded by letting out a light chuckle, followed by the first word to be uttered after what felt like hours.

"I'm real, Cisco," Barry whispered, knowing not to do anything but let them all react how they need to. Cisco's open mouth turned to an ear-to-ear grin after hearing Barry speak once again. Cisco wrapped his arms around Barry.

"H-how?" Cisco whispered, barely being able to make any noise at all.

"I'll explain when everybody is done greeting the dead man," Barry responded, lightly pushing Cisco away and bracing himself for the next hug. Cisco stepped away and looked toward the three that hadn't yet approached Barry. Wally walked up to Barry, laughing and hugging him for a brief second.

"Man, you are a sight for sore eyes, Barry. It's good to have you back." Wally said.

"It's good to be back," Barry nodded. Wally walked back to Jesse and pulled her to his side. Jesse still couldn't move or speak, opting to hang back. Caitlin was quietly crying tears of joy through the event. She couldn't take her eyes off of Barry, dreading that the moment that she did he would be gone and she would wake up from a dream. Barry's death was the final nail in the coffin for Caitlin. She had experienced more loss in her life than most anyone else would in ten. With Ronnie's two deaths, Jay's betrayal, and the loss of her sanity from her powers before she learned to control them, she was only able to stay strong because of her friends. But even their help had its limits. Barry's death had the most impact. Not only was he someone very close, he was also the driving force in keeping her above water. She lost everything at his death, and Cisco was only able to help so much. She dove into her powers, refusing to let anyone else that was close to her die.

No longer able to hold back the tears, Caitlin threw herself at Barry. She held onto him like he was like life itself. In a way, he was for her. Sobs wracked her body, causing Barry to hold her even tighter. He rubbed her back soothingly, trying to calm her. "If this is how she reacts, how will Iris?" Barry thought, realizing how much his death must have affected her. After another eternity, Caitlin finally pulled away. She looked up at Barry, who gave her a wide grin, waiting for her to say something.

"I-it's... it's r-really you!" Caitlin exclaimed, voice weak and quivering from the impossibility that was standing in front of her.

"Yeah Cait, it's really me," Barry responded, setting his hands on her shoulders. Caitlin went back in for another hug, still scared that he would disappear. Barry wrapped his arms back around Caitlin and addressed the team.

"It's good to be back, guys. I didn't really prepare what I was going to say, so I'll just answer questions back at S.T.A.R. Labs. I'm sure you all have lots. I'm willing to bet we're soon going to be drawing attention if we stay here much longer, so we should move our discussion back there. You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you guys there." Everyone nodded in agreement, Wally grabbed Joe, Jesse ran on her own, and Cisco opened a breach for Caitlin and himself. Barry softly pulled away from Caitlin, whose eyes were red from crying so much.

"Go on. I'll be there soon," Barry reassured her, receiving a nod from Caitlin, who reluctantly turned away and walked into the portal, followed by Cisco. Barry stood there for a moment, taking in all that was happening to him.

* * *

 

_The day had arrived. The day that Team Flash would hunt down Barry's killer. It had now been eight months since Barry's death. They decided that they would not kill him. They refused to become him. Cisco refused to give Barry's killer a name, not wanting to cement him in their memories._

_"Okay," Caitlin said, "let's go over the plan again." She was subconsciously trying to stall the mission. Even though she helped with the planning, she still fought tooth and nail to prevent risking the loss of another friend._

_"Alright." Wally began to explain the plan for the nth time. "I'll flash over there and get into a hiding position, masked additionally be the cover of night. I wait until he is distracted with something and I rush in. The entire time I'll be sped up so I can react fast enough. I will try to knock him out with one hit. If he catches me before I can, or he isn't knocked out, Cisco will ambush him from behind. Ideally, he will drop me and give me a chance to use our last resort." After a painful silence, Cisco spoke up._

_"Listen." Cisco addressed the team, "We are about to up against a man that can kill us all in an instant. If we don't get him down immediately, we have to do what ever it takes to use the last resort. We need to give this guy what he deserves." The team nodded, all silently dreading what was to come._

_After everyone got in position, Wally observed the scene. They were all in a warehouse with about ten other people inside, all dressed in heavy armor holding multiple guns. The man was nowhere to be seen. Wally looked up and saw Cisco and Caitlin hiding in the rafters above. Jesse was outside the building, waiting for her cue. After a few minutes, Wally saw the man step out of a room on the wall opposite him. He walked over to one of the men and began speaking with him._

_"Now's our chance," Wally whispered into the coms. "Three, two, one, here we go!"_

_Wally jumped out of his hiding spot and ran straight towards the man. Wally put everything he had into his punch and aimed for his head. The man went flying, but only for a split second. Almost immediately the man stopped mid-air and repositioned himself on the ground. He immediately shot out a hand towards Wally and lifted him up into the air._

_"Well, would you look at that! The Late Flash's friend! You know, I was planning on destroying S.T.A.R. Labs with you in it, but I thank you for saving me the-" The man was cut off when a blast of vibrational energy hit him in the back. The man dropped Wally, who started carrying out their last resort._

_Wally ran and knocked out all of the other soldiers and began creating a breach into the Speed Force. Caitlin jumped out of the portal and began freezing the telekinetic. Jesse ran into the building and helped Wally create a breach. The telekinetic was pushing out telekinetic energy, nearly overwhelming Caitlin and Cisco, but he didn't have enough time, as Wally and Jesse finally created a stable breach into the Speed Force. In a blur of lightning, Jesse grabbed the man and threw him into the breach. Wally ran up and grabbed hold of him and carried him into the Speed Force. Wally focused his mind on a specific date. October 13th, 2022. He was going to drop off the man there, giving them over a year to come up with a way to stop him. Eventually, Wally reached the date and ran out of the Speed Force, taking the man with him._

_Wally stopped at an alley and threw the man against the wall and ran back into the Speed Force. He traveled back to the past and stopped once again at the warehouse where the fight took place. The team looked at him with questioning faces. Wally simply responded with a nod._

_"So... What do we do now?" Caitlin asked._

_"Now?" Wally answered, "Now, we prepare. We have over a year to Figure out a way to stop him, and now we know where he will be. We can set up defenses at the alley where I threw him. We learn everything we can about him. Cisco, I trust that you got the sample that I requested?" The team turned to look at Cisco, no one knowing what Wally meant other than Cisco._

_"Yeah. While he was down I managed to take a sample of his hair and scrape off some of his skin. I'll see what I can do."_

_"Good. Come on, let's go home."_

* * *

 

Barry placed his mask back on and ran out of the graveyard. After he left he realized that he needed to find out about his killer. If he was still around, that meant that the city was still in trouble. He had faced a few telekinetics during his time with the Speed Force, so dealing with him should be easy. Barry decided that the best course of action would be to simply go to S.T.A.R. Labs and figure out what to do from there. He ran to S.T.A.R, careful to minimize his visibility. He wasn't yet ready to reveal himself as the Flash. Once he arrived, he found everyone in the cortex, all discussing something about someone arriving soon. When Barry walked in and pulled off his mask, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him. Barry looked at them briefly, his gaze eventually landing on his suit. It was in the case inside the wall as usual but it was slightly different. The lights were dimmed, giving a solemn feel to the display. Seeing his suit for the first time in 40 years sent a mixture of emotions through him. There were traces of nostalgia, but it was quickly overwhelmed by a pang of pain and sorrow. Barry approached the case, his face darkening with every step. He stopped a few feet in front of it and took in the emotions coursing through him. He was no longer that man, no, that boy that was the Flash. He was something... different. The pain he had felt, the amount of lives he had shattered with his decisions, they had made him into a monster. A killer, who would take a life without a second thought. And he was okay with it.

Barry turned and looked at the team, who had fallen back ever so slightly to give him room.

"So. I know you all have questions, and I will try to answer all of them. But first I need to know one thing. The man that killed me. What did you guys do with him?" Barry asked, needing to know if he needed to intervein.

"That's actually what we were talking about when you walked in." Wally started. "A little over a year ago, we decided that we needed to be able to plan on how to stop him without him constantly attacking the city. So, we managed to grab him and send him to the future. I ran him to October 13, 2022. Three days from now. We still haven't found a way to take him down without a high risk that we will lose one of our own."

"Alright. I'll take him down." Barry said nonchalantly, earning faces of pure protest from the entire team, the most furious coming from Joe and Caitlin. Joe because he just got his son back, and Caitlin because, well, she's always protested things like this.

"Like hell you are! Barry, we just got you back by some miracle! I'm not losing you again!" Joe exclaimed, obviously furious that he would even suggest going after his killer.

"He killed you the last time that you went after him! He will do it again!" This time it was Caitlin that screamed at him. She couldn't believe that the first thing that he does after the get him back is run to the thing that killed him. She can't lose him again.

"I'm going after him. That's final." Caitlin was about to cut in when Barry started speaking again. "After I died, I woke up in the Speed Force. They said that because of what I did with my power when I was alive I could have a second chance. They said that if I worked as an agent for them for 40 years that they would resurrect me not too long after my death. I accepted and became an agent of the Speed Force. They trained me to become more powerful than I ever thought possible. I have fought multiple telekinetics and won almost every time. I only lost twice. When I was alive, and when I was early in my training. There is no way that I can lose." Barry finished, looking at the team with faces like he was rising from the dead. Oh, wait...

"So let me get this straight." Cisco was the first to talk. "You've been gone for 40 years? First off, awesome! Second, why didn't you come tell us?"

"I was forced to cut off all connections to my old life. Every love, friend, every single person that I knew I had to remove every feeling towards them. This was to ensure that if a mission brought me to your time, which it did a few times, that I wouldn't let my feelings get in the way of saving people's lives. This removal is still mostly in effect." Barry explained, with the last statement pertaining to Iris. After this, both Joe and Caitlin backed down, though neither were okay with him doing the mission.

"Now. Tell me everything that you know about where and when he will be arriving."

* * *

 

Three days had passed and the team was still fighting to keep him from going. Barry still hadn't revealed himself to Iris yet, as he needs to make sure that his killer can no longer torment his friends and family. Even after that, he knew that he would never return to Iris as he was 40 years ago. He kept telling himself that he was doing it to protect her from him but deep down he knew that he didn't want to be with her anymore. Barry walked out of the room he had been staying in ever since he woke up and re-introduced himself to the team. According to Wally, the man was going to arrive soon. Barry walked to the cortex to find Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry sitting at the main desk, Wally and Jesse both adjusting their suits.

"You two are not coming with me," Barry said, voice firm and not leaving any room for discussion. Regardless, Wally still protested.

"Barry, we don't know how this is going to play out. You need to let us come with you!"

"No. I'll be fine. He will kill you if you come along. Stay here!" Barry shouted. He was more than willing to lock them in the pipeline to ensure that they don't come along. "I need to be able to focus when I fight him. I won't be able to if you guys are there. Please, stay." This time Barry's voice was softer, but still firm. Wally looked like he was about to protest, but Jesse stopped him.

"Wally, he's right. He's been doing this for a long time, and we'll just get in the way." Jesse said, taking off her mask. Wally relaxed, nodding his head. At this, Barry turned to the others.

"I've thought about it, and I'm gonna go out there in my Flash suit," Barry stated, earning wide eyes from Cisco and Caitlin.

"You- are you sure you're ready?" Cisco asked, remembering discussions that they've had throughout the last few days. They told him that he should reveal himself to the city as the Flash, but repeatedly he said that he wasn't ready for it. He still hasn't told them about the massacre with the nukes, and along with it, him being completely okay with killing. He knew that he would kill this man, and to be honest, he was going to do it brutally. He didn't know how to tell them, so he settled on showing instead.

"Yeah. The city needs its protector back and he needs to know that killing me was the biggest mistake of his life. Do you guys have comms for me to use?" Barry asked. Caitlin jumped up and ran over to a table in another room. When she emerged, he was holding a pair of in-ear comms but they were smaller than he last remembered. Caitlin noticed his confused expression and explained.

"We made some enhancements to them. Clearer audio, a bit more comfortable, the works. We also put a camera on your emblem so we can see what's going on." She gave the comms to Barry who put them in his ears and walked back over to the desk. When he did, an alarm sounded and Cisco jumped to the keyboard.

"Looks like our telekinetic just arrived," Cisco said, looking up at Barry. In an instant, Barry had his old suit on. Wearing it again was bittersweet. Barry turned to the team.

"It's time." Barry gave a quick smirk and ran. He ran to the alley where Wally dumped the man. Barry decided that this was the worst place for a final showdown. Barry grabbed him and ran to the bridge that he was killed on. He dropped the man, ran a few yards back, and turned on his comms so that the team could hear. The telekinetic was dazed for a moment but quickly gathered himself and dropped his jaw. Barry was the first to speak.

"Miss me?" Barry shouted, teasing his killer.

"H-HOW?! HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?" The man shouted, backing away slightly.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter though is that you killing me was the greatest thing that has happened to me! I have become faster, stronger, and smarter. And it's all thanks to you!"

"Maybe I should just kill you again!"

"Go ahead!" Barry shouted, hitting himself on the chest, obviously angering the man. " Go on! KILL ME!" Barry put his arms out and waited. Meanwhile, back at S.T.A.R Labs, the team was shouting at him to stop playing around.

"What are you doing Barry, take him down!" Harry shouted.

"Barry, hurry up before he gets you!" That was Caitlin. Barry remained stationary, not budging at their pleas.

"Fine!" The man shouted as he shot his hand out at Barry, lifting him up into the air. The team, who was watching on CCTV, was shouting even louder, not caring that Barry was obviously planning this. Barry let himself be lifted into the air, even putting on a smirk. The instant Barry felt the telekinetic energy begin to affect him, he started vibrating. Barry was able to feel the kinetic energy in the area around him and control it. He felt every car, every foot step, everything. Barry drew it all in, causing everything around him to stop moving. Except for Barry. He used that energy to vibrate so fast he was able to phase out of the energy binding him. Barry dropped to the ground and pushed the kinetic energy back out again. Barry, on the other hand, continued to vibrate, making himself immune to the man's powers. Tthe team watched on in awe as the man continued to attempt to crush him, but to no avail. Barry started walking towards the man, the energy being thrown at him having no effect. Soon, Barry reached the man and grabbed him by the throat.

"Good job Barry. Bring him in." Caitlin said over the comms, still shocked from what she just saw. However, the shock quickly turned to horror as she saw what Barry did next.

"No." That was all Barry said before he ran away from the area, spectators still stunned by what they just saw. Barry arrived at a nearby roof and began vibrating his free arm and using it as a buzz saw against the man's limbs. The team pulled up the footage on Barry's chest camera and saw Barry cutting off the mans limbs one by one, screams filling the sky and the cortex. Everyone in the room was much too horrified to do anything as Barry tortured the man. After all of the limbs were removed Barry threw the barely alive remains of his killer to the ground and drove a hand through his head, causing the mans head to pop open. Barry stepped back and stood there for a moment before picking up the pieces and running to a volcano and disposing of them there.

Barry arrived back at the cortex and saw faces of pure horror, but a few had a slight amount of understanding mixed in.

"Who are you?"


	4. Reasons

"Who are you?"

Caitlin's words rang through Barry's head like a bell. He was afraid of this. Them seeing him, the real him. They have learned that their Barry died that day. That the man standing in front of them was a stranger.

"Not the man that died 2 years ago," Barry responded, attempting to remain grounded.

"Not even close! You killed him! Tortured him! How are you any better than him?!" Caitlin hissed.

"Maybe I did go a little overboard, but it had to be done."

"I agree that it had to be done, but you could have done without the torture, Allen," Harry added, infuriating Caitlin even more.

"A little? A LITTLE?! You tortured and killed a man! It doesn't matter who he was, he should have been brought to justice! Not killing is what separates us from them!"

"Tell that to the 13.7 billion people, 6.3 of which were kids, that died because I refused to kill!" Caitlin's face turned from furious to shock and confusion. Barry let out a breath and continued, "There was a world not unlike ours that was destroyed by nuclear bombs scattering the earth. I could have stopped it if I had only done my job and killed the time traveler before he could launch them. It was my morals, my refusal to do what was necessary that killed everyone on that earth! You think that you know pain, that you know loss?! I have seen tragedy like you wouldn't believe, and I have lost things that you will never understand! Constantly, I hear their screams, their cries for help ringing through my head! I see their corpses, the destruction, and it's burning, and searing, AND IT NEVER STOPS! And I have to live with that, each and every day. I promised myself, no more. No more unnecessary deaths caused by petty morals. That is who I am, that is what 40 years in Hell will do to you. And you all have to live with it. Yes, I will admit that I did go overboard in my method of killing him, but that is not the worst thing that I have done."

Everyone was taken aback by what just unfolded. The pain and suffering in the eyes of the man standing in front of them were now very visible. One might argue that it has been the entire time that he was with them, but they simply refused to notice. The statement "you think that you know pain, that you know loss" hit Caitlin like a truck. He knew how much loss Caitlin has experienced, but it was as if he simply didn't care or knew that it was dwarfed by his pain.

"If you're going to kill, then do it without wearing the mask of a hero," Caitlin spat, before storming out of the cortex.

"Look." Cisco began, "You made a mistake. A big one, but a mistake none-the-less. However, a question does need to be asked. Are you going to give up killing? Or are you going to do that wearing the mask?" Barry looked away from the team, contemplating his answer.

"I'll do what I have to, to ensure the least amount of innocent deaths. If that means not killing, I won't kill. If it means killing, then I will kill." Barry replied calmly. He received a nod of understanding from Harry and Cisco.

"Alright, well I'm going home. It's been a long night." Jesse said, reaching out for Wally to follow.

"I'll go talk to Caitlin," Barry said, walking out of the cortex. He placed his hands on the was and vibrated, locating Caitlin. She was in Cisco's workshop, bent over in a chair. Barry ran to the entrance, stopping at the doorway to the room. Caitlin felt the rush of wind blow he hair everywhere, alerting her of Barry's presence. She slowly turned around in the chair, eventually facing Barry. She looked up at him, revealing a face wet with tears and eyes red. She was only able to look him in the eyes for a split second, before having to look away again. Barry walked up to her and squatted down to meet her at eye level. After a moment, she managed to look him in the eyes. In Barry's she found the pain and suffering from earlier, but mixed in was a small amount of guilt. In her's Barry found sadness and fear.

"I'm sorry." Caitlin broke the silence, causing Barry to make a questioning face.

"For what?"

"For storming out."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"No, I should have stayed and talked it out."

"Well, here's your chance," Barry said. Caitlin sat up and began to speak.

"When I saw you, standing in front of your grave, my first thought was one of pure joy. I thought that the team could come together again, cheat time, make us whole again. I didn't for one second stop and think of what you went through. I pushed that train of thought away and only thought of the fact that the person that helped me through all the loss I had experienced, my rock, was back. I didn't even realize that that same rock was cracked beyond repair. To be honest, I don't blame you for killing that man. The torture, that was unnecessary, but I can understand why you killed him. just, don't make a habit of it, okay?"

"I don't plan on it. Like I said after you left, I'll kill only when it ensures the least amount of innocent deaths." Barry responded. Caitlin nodded and stood up, pulling Barry up with her.

"Alright. I'm gonna go home. You should go to Iris, reveal yourself to her now that the threat of your killer is gone."

"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

 

Barry placed his suit in the case and threw on a hoodie and sweatpants. He then ran out of S.T.A.R. Labs and ran to the building where Iris's apartment was. He ran up the stairs to the door of the apartment. Just as he was about to knock, he decided against it. Barry started vibrating and phased through the wall to his right and ended up in a dark kitchen. He immediately crouched down and crawled to the edge of the bar. He looked over the edge and saw Iris sitting on the couch watching the news.

"Earlier tonight, a fight broke out on a bridge in downtown Central City. Spectators watched as what appeared to be the telekinetic that killed the Flash, fighting, the Flash. This was the first..." The news droned on and on about who the man in the flash suit may be, but Iris seemed too stunned to be able to pay attention to the news cast. She pulled out her phone and called someone.

"Hey, Cisco, it's Iris. Listen, I just saw a newscast about a fight involving the Flash. Do you know if...? Oh - okay." Iris hung up the phone and sat back down on the couch. she placed her head in her hands and sat there.

Barry stood up and starting walking towards her. The instant his foot hit the ground, she jumped up, causing Barry to retreat to another shadow.

"Hello? Who's there?" Iris asked, looking around for a weapon. Barry decided that this was the time to reveal himself.

"You know," Barry said, walking out into the open, causing Iris to look at him, "They really didn't capture my good side on that footage." Barry continued to walk out until his face was fully visible. Iris was finally able to make out his face in the dark. As soon as she did, her hands moved to cover her mouth, eyes growing wide.

"B-Barry?" Iris asked, voice quivering from the tears that were stinging her eyes. Barry simply nodded. Iris walked around the couch and cupped his face in her hand.

"Yeah. It's really me." Barry said, smiling at her. Iris lunged at him, letting her sobs wrack her body. Barry stumbled back a bit from essentially being tackled by Iris. Barry regained himself and stood there, letting Iris cry against his chest. After an eternity, Iris pulled back to look at Barry. He wiped the tears from her face and chuckled."

"What?" Iris asked, filled with insurmountable joy from the man standing in front of her.

"Nothing, I just... it's good to be home." Barry said. He was genuinely happy but was fearing the moment when he had to tell her that he didn't want to be with her anymore. The 40 years in the Speed Force changed him, as shown by the events from earlier that night. She wouldn't love the man that he became. Regardless, his work over the last 40 years forced him to cut all ties to his former life. This meant his ties to Iris. That along with his corruption meant that they couldn't be together. To be honest, Barry could be with no one, at least not the Barry that he is now. "However, there is something that I need to tell you."

"Of course."

"I..." Barry stated, " I'm not the man that died two years ago. I'm different. The things that happened to me while I was dead... they made me into... into something that the previous Barry would be terrified of. And, because of this, I can't let people that were once close to me that close again. If I do, I run the risk of turning them into me, into a monster." Iris took in a deep breath, and hesitantly asked something that she wasn't sure that she wanted the answer to.

"Wha- what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I can't be with you the way that I was all those years ago. This doesn't mean that we can't be friends or partners in team Flash. It just means that I can't be in a relationship with you." Barry finished, not entirely sure what her reaction would be. Iris let the words sink in. They hit her like a sledgehammer to the chest. Her reunion to Barry was now bittersweet, however, the happiness of his return softened the blow. when Iris didn't respond for a few minutes, Barry decides to speak up.

"Iris-"

"Barry, just... leave. For now. I... I just need time." Iris blurted out, Barry returning with a solemn nod. He turned and walked out of the apartment. When he reached the street, he ran back to S.T.A.R Labs and fell onto the bed.

* * *

 

Barry woke up to the sound of a klaxon sounding through out the labs. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching. After a moment, Barry sped into the cortex to find Cisco frantically swiping his fingers across a keyboard.

"What's up with the alarms?" Barry asked, causing Cisco to jump and jerk his head to look at Barry. Recognizing that it's him, he let out a breath and turned back to the computer.

"Sorry, still not used to you being here. Anyways, turns out that a meta is attacking... the Palmer Tech building."

"That's in Star City, right?"

"Yeah. Turns out that this guy has the ability to control some kind of energy. The report says that it looks like it's glowing yellow."

"Oh... great."

"What"

"He has the ability to control dark matter and energy."

"Wait, isn't that what metahuman abilities are made of?"

"Yup. Meaning that I have to take him down before he can steal my powers."

"Oh. Wait, it looks like Oliver and his team are there. I guess it's time to reveal yourself to them. Then again, they probably saw the newscast about you."

"If they did, they would have called."

"Oh, right. Well, are you going in Flash gear or Speed Force gear?"

"Speed Force. I need to be as prepared as possible."

"Alright. Let me get it." Cisco started typing again. After a moment, a section in front of the desk raised up out of the floor. A tube was inside holding Barry's Speed Force suit. Barry sped into it, without the mask.

"Contact Oliver's team. Tell them that help is on the way. Also, call Caitlin and have her get here, I'll need all the help that I can get."

"Of course. Oh, by the way, I installed the same tech that's in the emblem on your other suit into that one, so that we can monitor your health."

"Alright." Barry put on the mask and nodded to Cisco. He sent Caitlin a message and then hacked into the comms that team Arrow was using. Voices from the other side started filling the room.

"Alright go to your- oh no. Green Arrow, someone hacked into our comms!" Felicity screamed, causing both Cisco and Barry to wince.

"Don't worry, it's just me, Cisco."

"Cisco? What are you doing?!"

"Just calling to tell you that helps on the way," Cisco smirked, leaving their comms and nodding at Barry for his cue to leave. Barry ran at once, pulling kinetic energy in from all around him. He ran as fast as he could, arriving at Palmer Tech in less than a nanosecond. When Barry arrived, he stayed in slowed time, trying to give himself the best edge. Eventually, he found the lobby where Oliver and the meta were fighting. Barry ran up to the man and punched with all his might. The meta was definitely knocked out.

Barry returned to normal time, looking over at team Arrow. Oliver's bow immediately trained on Barry, along with Dig's gun, Thea's bow, and Rene's guns.

"Who are you?!" Oliver called, using his voice modulator.

"A friend," Barry responded, mocking with a voice that was only masking his identity for now. Barry picked up the meta, ran him to Iron Heights, ran back, and brought everyone to the Bunker in under a heartbeat. Once everyone regained their bearings, and Dig ran for a trashcan, they raised their weapons at Barry once again, Oliver sub consciously stepping in front of Felicity protectively.

"This time answer me! WHO ARE YOU?!" Oliver shouted once again.

"Like I said, a friend," Barry said, not masking his voice. Barry bowed his head and pulled back the hood, along with removing the mask. Barry placed the mask behind his back and raised his head. Barry was greeted with a multitude of expressions. Rene was confused, Diggle was wide-eyed, Thea dropped her jaw to the floor, Oliver furrowed his brow, while also dropping his jaw, and Felicity drew in a breath and grew a wide-eyed smile. After no one said anything for a moment, Felicity broke the silence.

"Barry?" Felicity asked, earning a slight chuckle and a nod from Barry. Felicity ran to Barry, crushing him in a hug. Barry returned it, eventually pulling back and smiling.

"Wait... aren't you that Flash guy, the one that died a few years ago?" Rene asked.

"I am him."

"How- how are you alive? Did Constantine do something?" Oliver asked.

"No, he didn't. Essentially, after I died, I was recruited by the Speed Force to work for them for 40 years. At the end of it, they would resurrect me."

"Wow," Oliver responded, not needing to say anything else.

"Man, I thought my life was weird enough with aliens, the multiverse, you. Now this?" Diggle said. Barry simply responded with a chuckle.

"So, are you going to be the Flash again?" Thea asked.

"Yeah. I've already taken on my killer as the Flash."

"He in Iron Heights, or the pipeline?" Oliver asked. Barry's face darkened, and he bowed his head slightly. After a moment, he shot his eyes up to look at team Arrow. The team didn't understand his reaction at first, but Oliver eventually got it. "You killed him, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What did the Speed Force do to you?" Oliver asked, knowing that the old Barry wasn't a killer.

"The Speed Force didn't do anything..." Barry went on and explained the event that turned him into who he was today. Team Arrow simply stood in shock as they heard the horrors of what happened. When Barry was finished explaining, he waited for the team to respond. Oliver was the first.

"So you decided on doing what was necessary to ensure that the least amount of innocent lives were taken."

"Yeah. You know, you're the first person to get it before I had to explain my reason for killing."

"Well, I have the same outlook," Oliver responded. Barry nodded and turned to the rest of the team.

"Well, it's been really good seeing you guys again. If you ever need anything, know that you can call. I'll be here in flash." Barry smirked, before speeding out of the bunker and back to S.T.A.R.

"On the bright side, he still cracks the same jokes," Thea said, before turning back to Oliver and resuming the team's activities.


	5. The Making of a Madman

When Barry arrived back at S.T.A.R Labs, Cisco and Caitlin were sitting at the desk, staring at the computers, stunned.

"Uhh, guys?" No response. "Hello?"

"How - how were you going that fast?" Caitlin asked. "And how did your body not fizzle out of existence?"

"40 years of training with the thing that gives me my speed does wonders for it."

"Dude. This. Is. AMAZING! I mean, you were going faster than the speed of light! Way faster than it!" Cisco said, turning to look at Barry, face showing pure awe.

"Yeah. It feels amazing. Wanna see?" Barry smirked before grabbing both Cisco and Caitlin and running around the earth about 100 times. It took him about 5 seconds. When He ran back to the cortex and set them down in the center of the room. Cisco stumbled and fell, as did Caitlin. Barry ran and caught both of them. After she realized what just happened, she pointed to the med bay.

"Tests. Now." Caitlin instructed. Barry chuckled and walked over to the bed and sat down."Get back into your clothes-"

She was cut off by Barry's clothes changing in an instant as if his suit and his clothes just swapped places.

"Oh. Okay. Take off your shirt." Barry did so as Caitlin started placing electrodes on him. However, she stopped before she could place the first one. She stepped back and saw a torso full of scars and burns.

"What happened?"

"Years and years of war." Caitlin looked up at him in pity. After a second, she resumed her work and began running tests.

"Hey, guys! I might be able to make something to harness your energy!" Cisco piped from the other room. "You are creating so much energy now that I might be able to make something that will act as a reserve for speed. This means that if you are out of energy or need someone that isn't a speedster to help out, they can temporarily harness the speed force as well."

"Cool. When do you think it will be ready?"

"I'm not sure, But I'll tell you when it is," Cisco said. Barry nodded and turned his head back to Caitlin, who was about to draw blood.

"Anything interesting yet?" Barry asked Caitlin.

"I won't know until I test your blood. However, your heart rate is faster than even our machines can count, so that's something." Caitlin finalized the blood test. "Alright. While we wait for this, we should go over to the speed lab." Barry nodded and stood up. He grabbed onto Caitlin and ran to the speed lab. He set her down, but this time she wasn't as disoriented.

"Wow. You know, now that I'm not dizzy from that big run from earlier, I can see why you love running so much."

"Yeah. It's freeing." Barry responded, walking up to the track and getting ready to run.

"Wait! Shouldn't you change first so you don't burn up your clothes?"

"No. The speed force protects me from that."

"Alright," Caitlin said, "Get ready! And... GO!" Barry ran. He ran as fast as he could, not even leaving behind a gust of wind. He turned into a small blur, no lightning, no form, just light. Caitlin looked at the speedometer. It had maxed out at 999999 mph. Caitlin was once-again dumbfounded by the numbers in front of her. She set the test to run for 5 minutes. She sat back and watched the faint red circle that was stationary on the track. Soon, however, her awe was turned back to horror as she remembered the man that Barry had killed. The sheer brutality of the killing, the gore, all of it was burned into her mind. She must have been deep in thought, as in what felt like another second, the test was over and Barry was beside her, shaking her.

"Cait! CAITLIN!" Barry finally reached her, as she jumped and turned to look at Barry. When she looked, she didn't see the sweet and loving Barry from before. No, she saw a killer. It was just like the night before. Her face was frozen in fear, almost scaring Barry just as much.

"Hey, hey, hey... what's wrong?" Barry asked, attempting to make his voice sound soothing. Caitlin closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Sorry, it's just... I can't get the sight of that man out of my eyes. The one that you killed." Barry drew in a long breath and slowly shook his head.

"Yeah. It's not easy living with seeing those things. You never really get used to it, but you do get used to the feeling. I take it that my philosophy on killing that I told you isn't sitting right with you?" Caitlin hesitated for a moment but then responded.

"Not really. I mean, I get it. After seeing what you've seen, you want to make sure that it doesn't happen again. However, I just... I feel like there's always a better way."

"Not always. Listen, I understand that killing won't ever sit right with you, just as it wouldn't me if I hadn't seen what I have. And like I said, I will try to minimise it, but it will be happening. I'm sorry."

"I know. I'm just not hardened like you or Oliver. It's haunting me."

"Yeah." Barry chuckled, "Tragedy tends to do that. We both know what that feels like, huh?" Caitlin smiled and hung her head. After a moment, the terminal in front of her beeped.

"Oh! The blood test is done!" Caitlin shot up, doctor mode kicking in. She began walking out of the room, but Barry grabbed her and brought her to the med-bay before she could take two steps. She was finally getting used to having a speedster to run her places like before, so she didn't stumble. She ran over to the computer and began checking the results.

"Well, your blood is just as healthy and is regenerating at an enormous rate. Let me check the speed force levels..." Caitlin trailed off as she looked at the results. The amount of speed force in his cells was amazing.

"Well, what is it?" Barry asked.

"Cisco! Come look at this!" Caitlin called. Footsteps were heard as he approached the computer.

"What's going on...Woah." Cisco said with the same tone as Caitlin.

"What is it? What do you see?"

"That," Caitlin began, "Is your cells no longer harnessing the speed force. That is them controlling, manipulating it. I mean, the amount of speed force in your body is insane!" Barry looked shocked at the revelation. He knew that he now manipulated the speed force, but he didn't know how much was in his blood.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Barry said, "Being back here has distracted me from my training. I need to do a session."

"Where do you plan on training?" Cisco asked.

"There was an old training ground that first started using back when I started my work for the speed force. It's near the nexus... You guys don't know what that is. Sorry. Anyways, it's a place in the speed force where I trained. I need to go back."

"Wait, you're going back to the speed force?! What if something happens and we need you here?" Caitlin asked, slightly nervous about Barry returning to the place that held him captive for 40 years, just as Cisco felt nervous too.

"You'll be fine. You have Wally and Jesse. Besides, I'm not going away for that long again. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Barry said just as he sped off to the pipeline. He ran around it until a portal opened and he ran into it.

* * *

Barry stopped inside the speed force cortex. Inside of it was Harry.

"Hello, Barry. It's been a while."

"For me, maybe. I need to get to my old training grounds. Don't think I've forgotten 40 years of discipline." Barry said with a smirk.

"Of course, Barry." Harry gestured to his right where a portal opened. Barry nodded and stepped through the portal.

Barry arrived in a large building. The other hunters referred to it as the Watchtower. All across the building, you could see glimpses of different universes. Barry, however, was only interested in one thing. Because he was the best hunter out of the rest, he was given own training grounds where he could train to his heart's content. At least, until it was time for his next assignment. Barry turned to a wall and spoke the code word.

"Wraith," Barry stated, as he watched the wall open up and reveal an elevator. Barry stepped in and told the computer where to go from the list in front of him. The list had things from "Bar" to "Bed", and from "Armory" to "Lab." However, Barry picked the top of the list.

"Training," Barry spoke as the elevator started moving. After a few seconds, he arrived at the correct floor. As he stepped out, he took in the sights around him. It was a large room, about the size of a warehouse. Directly in front of the entrance was a rack with equipment on it. A spare speed force suit was sitting there. Barry threw it on and looked at his surroundings. First was a track for him to run on. It contained a computer that was able to replicate any form of obstacle, from different environments to meta-human or alien abilities. Then was a robot-looking figure with strange clothing on it. Barry was once told that telekinetics and Dark energy wielders were able to create these robots that can replicate meta-human abilities, allowing you to train on avoiding different abilities. There were a few other things in the room, but Barry only used the track and the robot unless something needed heavy training.

Barry ran over to the computer on the track and set it to do a full training session. This included about 30 seconds in every environment, along with varying meta-human abilities that could slow him down, such as cold or turtle powers. He then ran over to the robot and set it to sparring mode, which would put the user up against an opponent with their same abilities and experience. He then brought the robot to the track and started both programs at once, fighting the robot while also going through the track.

After many hours of training, Barry stepped off of the track and shut down the robot. He removed his suit, grabbed his clothes and stepped into the elevator. He instructed it to go to the bedroom, where there was a shower. He stepped out of the elevator, washed, threw on his clothes, and returned to the nexus. He ran over to the S.T.A.R. Labs cortex and found Cisco there.

"I'm done training," Barry stated. Cisco moved around and spoke.

"Good. I take it you want to return home?"

"Yes. Put me where I would be if time were passing naturally."

"Of course. See you soon, Barry." Cisco said, smiling. Barry simply nodded as he stepped through the portal.

* * *

Barry returned to S.T.A.R. Labs just where he left, in the pipeline. Barry sped to the roof of the Labs to look over the city. At this point, it was night time, and the city was alive. Barry sat down and watched. It had been so long since he was able to really look at a city without thinking tactically.

Barry wasn't sure how long he was sitting there, but eventually, the door behind him busted open.

"Barry! Come down to the cortex, now!" Cisco shouted. Barry turned around, looking at Cisco with a confused face, before speeding them both down to the cortex. Inside was nearly every member of team Flash. Wally, Jesse, Caitlin, Cisco, Harry, and Iris. Barry immediately noticed Joe's absence.

"Where's Joe?" Barry asked the team. They all immediately turned to face him. One face stood out, however. Iris was balling her eyes out. Wally was beside her, attempting to comfort her, but he had a face just as pained. Before anyone could say anything, Barry learned the answer. Rage began to boil inside of him, rushing through his veins much like his speed. Something had happened to Joe, and he was too busy training to save him. Barry turned to run but stopped just after he was facing away from them. That rage coursing through his veins fueled his speed, causing him to uncontrollably vibrate his voice. Barry glanced back at them.

"Where is he?" Barry asked, voice slow and deep, being vibrated to the point of intimidation. He had last used this voice on his last mission for the speed force.

"At his house. He-" Wally wasn't able to finish his sentence before Barry ran off to find Joe.


	6. Fires of War

Barry, after running to a store to grab some clothes, arrived at Joe's house. The rage of whatever happened to Joe was still boiling in him. Barry walked up to the steps leading up to Joe's house. Guarding them were two officers, both from when Barry was alive. He walked up to them, head tilted down and carrying a briefcase with his equipment, and spoke.

"Let me into the house," Barry said, lowering his tone. The officers stiffened.

"Sir, I can't let you in. It's a crime scene right now," One of the officers said.

"I said," Barry began, raising his head to look directly into the officers' eyes, "Let me into my father's house." Immediately both stumbled backward.

"Barry? Is that you?" The other asked, then continued, "Listen, I'm sorry, but we can't let you in. You're no longer on the job, although I'm sure that Singh will let you back on."

"In that case, I'm sorry," Barry said.

"For what?"

"This," Barry spoke as he raised both of his hands to the faces of the officers. Immediately, Barry snapped his fingers with a jolt of lightning, sending the two men to the ground, unconscious. Barry continued to walk up the stairs and into the house.

Barry saw numerous faces that he recognized. Singh was speaking to a detective to the side, and a few officers were talking to each other near the doorway. Barry didn't give them time to stop him, walking straight up the stairs to the bedrooms. He went into Joe's room and saw blood nearly everywhere. Also in the room was what he could only assume was another CSI. The man stood up and addressed Barry.

"Hey so- wait, who are you? You're not allowed up here." The CSI said, before promptly being sent unconscious by Barry. He walked over to the bed and viewed the scene.

Almost the entire bed was covered in blood, the pillow covered the most. Barry found bits of metal scattered around the pillow. He placed them into an evidence bag and continued searching for clues. He then found a hair, too long to be Joe's. He placed that into an evidence bag as well. Barry decided that he was here for long enough, and ran out of the house.

* * *

Barry stopped at S.T.A.R. Labs where the entire team was still gathered. When Barry arrived everyone turned to look at him.

"Where did you go?" Cisco asked, noticing the more formal clothes on Barry.

"The crime scene. They must have taken him to the hospital by the time I got there." Barry said.

"Wait, you went unmasked?! Who saw you?" Caitlin asked, shocked that he revealed himself to even more people.

"Two officers standing by the door and the CSI in his room. I knocked them all out, and no one will actually believe them if they say that they saw me."

"Well, what did you get while you were there?" Cisco asked.

"Some bits of metal and a hair." Barry pulled out both bags from his briefcase. "Caitlin, can you run these? I need to speak with someone."

"Yeah, sure," Caitlin said as she took both bags and walked off to the lab. Barry turned to the rest of the team.

"I'm gonna speak to the speed force, see if there's anything special that I should know about the case." Barry then sped off back into the speed force.

When he arrived, he found himself in Joe's house, with Iris in front of him.

"Hey, Barry," Iris said, turning from her place on the couch to look at him. "I take it that you're here about the attack on Joe?"

"Yes."

"Follow me." Iris stood up and walked out the front door with Barry following. The door opened into his old lab.

"The man who attacked your father is named Delmond Downs. He has a doctorate in theoretical physics. He was working on a project with wormholes when the particle accelerator exploded. Those mixed with the substance that he was working with to form a certain 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' scenario. Recently, he was completely corrupted by his evil counterpart, and has been trying his hardest to fight back ever since."

"Does he have any powers that I should know about?"

"None."

"Oh. Well, that's gonna be easy."

"Not so fast. He does have one thing that you should know about. He is a master of stealth. Not only is he like a shadow, but he is invisible to our method of vibrating an area."

"Oh. Well, let's hope that I can find him before another person is attacked. By the way, does Joe live?"

"Yes, but he is severely injured and will be in a coma for 3 months."

"Fun. Alright, put me back."

"Of course." A portal opened beside him, and he stepped out. He arrived back at S.T.A.R. Labs and ran to the cortex. Caitlin was just about to pull up the results of the scan when he arrived.

"Alright. The name of the attacker is Delmond Downs. He was last seen entering his lab about... three hours before the Particle Accelerator explosion. The metal bit you found appears to be from an axe. Barry, what did you learn from the speed force?"

"Apparently he was once a good man, even had a doctorate in theoretical physics. However, when a project he was working on mixed with the explosion, he started becoming evil. They described it as a 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' scenario. He doesn't have any powers, other than some tech that blocks him from my ability to vibrate an area to create a map." Barry explained, addressing the team. "Also, the speed force said that Joe would be fine, but he will be in a coma for a few months." At this Iris sighed in relief.

After a moment of silence, the klaxons sounded, alerting the team of an attack. Cisco jumped into action, swiping away at the keyboard.

"Okay, the metahuman app says that people are reporting a large monster walking through the streets. A description of the creature says that he is covered in what looks like many sharp bones, and appears to have no skin, only muscles." Cisco looked up at Barry to see if he recognized the description. Barry looked up in thought, squinting his eyes.

"Is there a picture?" Barry asked.

"Let me look... Here!" Cisco said as he sent the picture to the front screens. The picture showed a Hulk-like figure that was a pale white. Bones were shooting out from every which way. His eyes were glowing red, and two horns were shooting out. He seemed to have a beard of bone, along with jagged teeth. Bary sighed after he recognized the beast.

"I know what that is. It's one of the Doomsday clones." The team looked confused so he continued. "About two years before my return, I was sent on a mission to Kara's earth. An organization found remnants of a creature from another universe. They used the DNA to create an army of those things," Barry pointed at the screen. " We were able to shut down the cloning machine and kill about half of the army. However, their creators had a backup plan. To wreck havoc, they sent the reminders all throughout the multiverse and time. This must have been one of them. Luckily, the speed force sent some enforcers to kill the rest, so we should have backup."

"How powerful are they?" Caitlin asked.

"Very. In one universe, a single one almost wiped out the entire Justice League, a group of all the superheroes there."

"Yikes. You sure you wanna do this?" Wally asked.

"I have to. If given the time to evolve, he could single-handedly wipe out the all the armies on the earth. Either way, I'll have an enforcer to aid me. Get in position. Wally, Jesse, stay here. I'll be able to deal with it."

"You sure?" Jesse asked, "It sounds like you'll need all the help that you can get."

"An enforcer and I will be enough. Alright, let's do it." Barry finished before speeding into his speed force gear and running to the scene.

* * *

When Barry arrived at the scene, he was able to get a good look at the creature. He looked to be fairly new, not really evolved yet. Just as Barry was about to fight, Cisco called through the comms.

"Barry! A breach is opening above you!" Barry looked up and saw the breach.  _Why would the breach open there? Unless..._  Barry thought as he saw what he was thinking. Out of the breach flew a figure. It looked around until it spotted Barry.

"What is that?" Caitlin asked, looking at the chest cam. Eventually, the figure landed. It was a man with wings and attire similar to Barry's but was more suited to open combat instead of stealth. The man walked towards Barry.

"Wraith! How are you here? Wait, is this after you were released back into your time?"

"Yup. How's it been Phoenix? I haven't seen you since you left for this mission."

"That's because I'm being released also! The Overseers said that this was my last mission. I would have gone back to my time but I don't really have anything to return to, so I decided to come here!"

"Awesome! So, how are we going to take this guy down?"

"Well, what about an infinite mass punch?"

"No, there would be too many casualties if I were to do that. You got any ideas?"

"Well, I was just gonna try to fight it like we did on the raid on the creator's base, but since you're here I've got a better idea."

"What is it?" Barry asked as Phoenix glanced back at Doomsday. It moved slowly, not realizing that it was about to be fighting.

"Alright. It will take some time, but it should take him down and hopefully not destroy the entire city in nuclear fire."

"Hopefully?"

"Look, if we do it right, it will work. First, you will need to distract him. Fight with him while I charge up a fire core. Once it's charged I'll hand it to you. My energy will mostly be drained, but I should be able to distract it for a moment. You won't have long, and the core could explode at any moment, so be careful but swift. Phase into Doomsday and leave it near his heart. If done properly his body should contain the blast and the radiation, although the cleaners will be getting Doomsday gut's out of the, well, everything for a few months." Barry nodded his head.

Phoenix closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and exhaled. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes to reveal two balls of blue flame covering his eyes. He rotated his shoulders, forcing the building energy to them. Suddenly, in a purely beautiful display, blue flames started creeping along his white wings. He extended them out to their fullest extent, making the length of both wings reaching over 30 feet. Eventually, the entirety of his wings was coated with the blue flame. Soon after, the flames spread from his back to his front and arms, coating them in a red flame. The flame spread to his legs, eventually coating him like armor. Lastly, the red flame shot up into his face, not creeping like the rest of it. His red face and body was in stark contrast to his blue eyes and wings.

The team back at S.T.A.R. Labs was mesmerized at the sight of the man flaming up. It brought a picture of Ronnie to Caitlin, giving her a sad smile.

Phoenix stretched his arms out and turned his hands, palms facing one another, and began channeling energy. As soon as the energy started leaving his body, Doomsday felt the power source. He turned and began charging towards Phoenix. Barry and Phoenix both nodded at each other. Barry then ran in front of Doomsday, trying to grab his attention.

"Hey! Down here!" Barry called. Doomsday stopped short, turning towards Barry. "Come on! Fight me!" Barry yelled as he began speeding around Doomsday at around Mach 10, just so that there would be some lightning behind him. Doomsday started swinging, quite fast for a creature his size. Barry simply ran, more than fast enough to dodge his attacks. Eventually, Doomsday started getting bored and started charging back at Phoenix. Barry noticed this and began throwing lightning at him at an amazing speed. Doomsday immediately turned and began charging at Barry once again.

"It's ready!" Phoenix shouted, obviously tired from putting that much energy outside of his body. Barry ran from where he was and grabbed the core. It was a ball of pure light. Blue, red, yellow, and white were swirling around.

"Once again, careful with it," Phoenix said before summoning a sword and whip of flame and charged at Doomsday. Barry, on the other hand, readied himself to run with the most volatile substance in the multiverse. After a moment, he ran.

Wind and electricity rushed passed him as he ran and jumped into Doomsday. Barry focused his vibrations and released his grip on the core. It started to fall right next to the heart, just like Phoenix said. As soon as he ran out, Barry ran up the next building and jumped off, grabbing Phoenix and falling to the ground. Barry broke a few bones, but they were healed before Barry could even feel the pain. He ran up to the top of another building and dropped Phoenix onto it. They both looked down at the ground and waited. After a moment, Doomsday started glowing. After another, He was all over the road, buildings, and nearby cars.

"Well. You were right." Barry said to Phoenix.

"About what?"

"That when we were finished, Doomsday would be everywhere."

"Oh. Yeah." Both of them laughed. Barry then addressed the team.

"Alright. We're coming home. Caitlin, prepare a bed for Phoenix. He's drained of his energy for now."

"Of course."

Phoenix removed his flames and flew.

* * *

Barry ran back to S.T.A.R. Labs as Phoenix flew overhead. Pheonix arrived a moment after Barry did, following where Barry ran, finding himself in the cortex.

Phoenix walked into the cortex, being greeted with Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, and Harry. The others had either gone home or went to the hospital. Caitlin waved to Phoenix.

"I take it you're Phoenix? Follow me." Caitlin nodded towards the med bay. Phoenix followed, folding his wings into his back, disappearing as if they weren't even there. He laid down on the bed as Caitlin started asking him questions as Cisco, Harry, and Barry listened.

"So, what are you? Meta-human?"

"No. I come from the planet Jewel. We are what most call 'Fire Angels'. Long ago my planet was in a war. I stopped it, but in turn, killed both the enemies and the rest of my people. I managed to escape. Now, I'm the last of them, and they all died by my hand. I use that as encouragement, making sure that no one else has to feel the pain and the loss that I felt."

"Wow," Caitlin said as she began doing a usual health check-up. "How do you know Barry, and how did you come to work for the speed force? Also, what should we call you?"

"We worked together as allies for the majority of our time for the Overseers, or what you call the speed force. After I managed to recover from the loss enough to work, I became a freelancer. Eventually, the speed force found me and offered me a job. After that, I found Barry and we became amazing friends and teammates on most missions. My old name was Samandriel, but you can call me Sam."

"Cool. Alright, your overall health looks good, except for a large gash in your stomach. I assume that you are also extremely drained?"

"Yes. After we deal with that I can heal the gash on my stomach with no problem. Barry?" Sam said, turning towards Barry with a sheepish look on his face. Barry responded with a questioning one before realizing what he was asking and replaced it with a pained one.

"What? What's wrong?" Cisco asked.

"Usually, to recharge him I would give him a ton of my energy since mine regenerates almost instantaneously. Thing is though, it hurts. A lot. The Parietal lobe, for some reason, is sent into overdrive, providing literally the most pain a mind can make. For a comparison, female speedsters have stated that trading energy is more painful than childbirth one hundred-fold." Barry stated, looking at Cisco and Caitlin for their reactions. Cisco's eyes were wide in shock, and Caitlin looked horrified.

"Won't that kill you?!" Caitlin said, doctor mode kicking in.

"Nope. Over 40 years I have developed quite the tolerance for pain. That doesn't mean it hurts any less, it just means that I can't die from it. In this case, I'm not sure if that's a good thing. But, it needs to be done in case there's another attack. Luckily for him, it feels like a gunshot, nothing more." Barry finished.

"Alright," Sam said, "Everyone stand back." Sam got up from the bed, clutching his stomach as he walked up to Barry. His wings sprung out but weren't at full length. Sam reached out his hand as Barry grabbed onto his wrist, with Sam doing the same.

"Ready?" Barry asked.

"Yeah. Good luck." Sam said as they began working. At the beginning, all they could see was lightning dancing around Barry furiously, while Sam's eyes and hands were covered in a blue flame. Nothing was said until Barry let out a horrific scream, ringing throughout the cortex. Barry started falling to his knees, screaming even louder. The electricity dancing around Barry began jumping over to Sam.

Barry felt nothing at first. Then, once he felt the connection, the pain sprung to life. Every cell in his body was being ripped apart and put back together again. The pain was unimaginable. First, it felt like his head was exploding. Nails and fire and slams all at once a million times over would be an understatement. Then, the pain shot to the rest of his body, igniting him in an inferno. After minutes of pain and suffering, it stopped. Barry collapsed to the ground and curled up into a ball.

"Barry!" Caitlin shouted, running over to him with Cisco just behind. She checked his pulse and sighed in relief discovering that he was alive. She moved to pick him up, and along with Cisco's help brought him over to the bed.

Sam removed the shirt part of his suit and revealed a long and deep gash that was bleeding horribly. Sam raised his hand and lit it up with a blue flame. This time, however, it didn't give off heat, like the other times he was ignited. Also, the flames seemed to be pulled towards the gash. Once his hand was close enough, the flames started dancing across the gash. As the flames touched it, the wound started healing nearly instantly, the two sides melding together. eventually, the gash was gone, as if it was never there in the first place. the only sign was the blood that was all over him.

"Woah. How did you do that?" Cisco asked, walking up to him and inspecting the previous location of the wound.

"I have the ability to produce two flames. One is red. That is the one that I can create with. Things like armor, weapons, shields, whips, and more. Then there's the blue flame. It will always be the color on my wings and eyes. The blue flame seems to have a seemingly magical power to it. Also, I can heal myself and others of wounds from small cuts to life-threatening injuries. The blue flame, if there is enough of it, could theoretically bring someone back from the dead. I would just have to coat my entire body in it, which at this point is nearly impossible. I just don't have the energy storage to do so."

"Huh. Cool." Cisco said, trying to act nonchalant about the whole thing.

"Do you guys have anything else to wear?" Sam asked, wanting to get out of his gear.

"Yeah. Here." Cisco ran and grabbed a S.T.A.R. Labs T-shirt and sweatpants and gave it to Sam. Sam extended his wings and sounded himself in them as he changed. When he opened his wings again, he was dressed in the clothes that Cisco gave him. Cisco was turned away, tense.

"What?" Sam asked, oblivious to the awkwardness he just started.

"No-nothing. Just... look, I get that you're covering yourself, but please leave the room before getting naked." Cisco said, turning back around.

"Okay," Sam said. Suddenly, the klaxons started blaring again, causing both Caitlin and Barry to run out of the med-bay.

"What is it?" Barry asked Cisco, who sat in his chair and began searching for the cause.

"Another attack by our favorite Axeman," Cisco said, looking up at Barry who had a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously? We're naming him after the serial killer? Also, I thought that you were good with names?"

"Just shut up and get to the crime scene!"


End file.
